75-85 Harrington Street Mixed Use.

Whilst I do not object to the existing buildings being demolished and/ or re-furbished... I do object to the suggestion that they will be replaced by a higher building.
Please preserve the " height " of the existing buildings and not allow these new buildings to be any higher than the ones that are being replaced.
This is a sensitive area and the "ambience" will be destroyed if the existing height restriction is allowed to be increased.

On the highly prominent location in the city, it would be highly desirable to build an iconic building Sydney will cherish. A building that is unique and will complete the streets and embrace historic fabric of the Rocks precinct. This includes any new residential apartment in this area. The current proposal is just like another apartment I've seen before somewhere.

I object to the proposed height increase of the new building.
The new building should be at the same height as the current building that stands.

The proposed development's size and scale dwarfs the heritage-listed terraces along Gloucester Street including the much visited Susannah's Place Museum and Shop.

It is important to note The Rocks is Australia's pre-eminent heritage-listed precinct where keeping the historical integrity of the streetscape is crucial. The 9/10 storey buildings proposed on both Harrington Street and Gloucester streets are not in keeping with the surrounding streetscape's height and scale and look totally out of character.

These buildings's height should be reduced to a 6 storey minimum so they do not dominate the historic streetscape and surrounding heritage terraces.

The development's height must be reduced so it falls within the agreed height limits of the area. These height limits have been set to protect the character and existing streetscape of The Rocks, one of the only heritage listed precincts of Australia.

The height limits have been set as maximum building height which may be achieved by any proposed development, not as a starting point.

85 HARRINGTON STREET, THE ROCKS (SSD7037) - LETTER OF SUPPORT

Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments on the abovementioned development application.

I am the owner of 25B 171 Gloucester street, The Rocks. I wanted to provide my full support for this application for the following key reasons:
* The proposal will enhance the local area by providing new pedestrian linkages and public domain improvements.
* A range of new job opportunities are provided in the retail and commercial elements of the project
* The design of the residential apartments are of a very high design quality by a very highly reputable Sydney architect
* The development is in keeping with the significant heritage setting of The Rocks and the local area.

Based on the above, I recommend that the NSW Department of Planning & Environment approve the application.

15 September 2016

Department of Planning and Environment
Attn: Director - Key Sites Assessments
GPO Box 39
SYDNEY NSW 2001

Dear Sir/Madam,

Mixed Use Development, 75-85 Harrington Street, The Rocks (SSD 15_7037)

The National Trust lodges a strong objection to this inappropriate and insensitive development proposal within Australia's most historic heritage urban area.

The Trust deplores the poor consultation and total lack of community engagement generally with regard to State Significant Developments. We also note that the nominated project type for this development is `State Significant Site' but it is not on the list of gazetted State Significant Sites nor is it on the list of proposed State Significant Sites as published on the Major Projects Website.

With regards to consultation and community engagement the Trust notes the Secretary's Environmental Assessment Requirements regarding Consultation -

"During the preparation of the EIS, you must consult with the relevant local, State or Commonwealth Government authorities, service providers, community groups and affected landowners. In particular, you must consult with:

* City of Sydney Council.
* Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority
* EPA.
* Office of Heritage and Environment.
* Sydney Water.
* Transport for NSW.
* Roads and Maritime Services.
* Sydney Trains.
* Local Aboriginal Land Council and stakeholders, if relevant.
* Local heritage groups, if relevant.

The EIS must describe the consultation process and the issues raised, and identify where the design of the development has been amended in response to these issues. Where amendments have not been made to address an issue, a short explanation should be provided." (National Trust bolding)

The National Trust has been based in The Rocks/Millers Point for the past forty years and was the body to first investigate and assess the heritage significance and list on the National Trust Register "The Rocks Conservation Area" in 1978 and 101 individual buildings, spaces and items in this area, most in the period 1973 - 1978.

The Urbis staff indicated as responsible for the preparation of the Heritage Impact Statement should have been well aware of the work and involvement of the National Trust in The Rocks.

"The Rocks" is clearly of State Heritage Significance irrespective of its current statutory listing status.

The National Trust is not aware of any contact from Urbis or the project's proponents or other consultants and certainly no consultation or engagement on this issue, in direct contradiction of the Secretary's Environmental Assessment Requirements regarding Consultation.

Given the failings of the system set out above, this is the first opportunity for the National Trust to put its views on the disturbing and unprecedented development proposal.

The application for a variation to the Sydney Cove Redevelopment Authority Scheme is being made by Urbis. However, Urbis is also the author of the Heritage Impact Statement, and could not seriously be expected to raise concerns or flag adverse impacts which may put the application in jeopardy. There clearly needs to be an independent Heritage Impact Statement to avoid this obvious conflict of interest.

The variation proposal seeks an increase in height from RL 41.0 to RL 49.97, an increase of 9 metres.

The Heritage Impact Statement recognises that the proposal will be a large scale development in Gloucester Street, but fails to acknowledge that the principle of the height controls in the southern zone was to keep heights low north of the Cahill Expressway. This proposal creates a very concerning precedent for building heights north of the Cahill Expressway.

An examination of the elevations of the proposed building show that it is completely out of scale for the area and completely out of context. The variation recognizes that the proposal has "very large east and west elevations."

The variation seeks to claim that the existing built form relates poorly to its surrounding context. However, in the National Trust's view, the existing built form blends remarkably well with the scale and form of The Rocks.

The National Trust strongly disagrees with the claim that the proposal "blends seamlessly with the streetscape" and is a "good contextual fit." It does not and is not.

The variation attempts to claim public benefits when in fact there are no public benefits. The suggested public benefit of opening the existing through site link to the sky will result in the exposure of the huge discrepancy in scale between the existing Gloucester Street terraces and the proposed 10 storey building.

In fact the Heritage Impact Statement makes only passing reference to the proposed new buildings and mostly focuses on the Gloucester Street Terraces. The Statement tries to ignore the "elephant in the room".

This application proposes the demolition of a very recent building, a building carefully designed to fit into the Rocks Urban Conservation area. This was a very early Conservation Area and the development proposal flaunts many years of careful planning and previous considerations regarding scale and impact of developments.

The developer is seeking a larger envelope in direct contradiction of the SCRA Scheme's intention for low scale north of the Cahill Expressway. This was the original trade off for development in The Rocks - so that the character of the townscape could be retained.

Two of the oldest surviving blocks of housing in Sydney are in close proximity - Susannah Place (1844)
and the Jobbins Building (1850s). The Jobbins building used to have harbour views which have since been blocked. Views to the existing building down Longs Lane etc were all carefully considered in the SCRA scheme.

The developer has commissioned both the Conservation Management Plan and the Statement of Heritage Impact. The Trust would expect that the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority should have been extensively consulted in the preparation of these documents.

The existing building at 75-85 Harrington Street is of such recent construction that it could not possibly need replacing. The Trust questions whether the development proponents are aware of the concept of sustainable retrofitting.

The National Trust objects in the strongest possible terms to this development proposal.

Yours sincerely

Graham Quint
Director - Advocacy
The National Trust of Australia (NSW)

16th September 2016

Mr Andy Nixey
Specialist Planner
Key Sites Assessments
NSW Planning & Environment
GPO Box 39
SYDNEY NSW 2001



Reference: 85 HARRINGTON STREET, THE ROCKS (SSD7037) - LETTER OF SUPPORT

Dear Mr Nixey,

I am the owner of an apartment at The Cove in Harrington Street, Sydney and have recently examined the plans of the development and know the site well. I wish to offer my support to the proposal, for the reasons outlined below.

- The proposal will enhance the local area by providing new pedestrian linkages and public domain improvements, demonstrating a thorough and well thought through design process
- Whilst innovation and forward thinking is clearly evident, respect for the heritage setting of the area is maintained. Design of the development will not in my view compromise the existing character of Harrington Street and the broader The Rocks area, and will in fact visually beautify the immediate street frontages as a result of replacing the less than complimentary design of the current building
- The high end design of the apartments themselves by a respected Sydney architect is complementary to neighboring properties
Creation of local job opportunities as a result of again, a well thought through combination of retail and commercial elements, that also allows synergies with the residential element

- I thank you for the opportunity to provide my comments and firmly believe the development will overall be a welcome addition to the area. With that it mind, it is my recommendation that the NSW Department of Planning & Environment approve the application.


Kind Regards
Lena Hunt

Uploaded.

Please see attached Version 2, which supersedes version 1 dated 5 September 2016.

The proposed development's size and scale dwarfs the heritage-listed terraces along Gloucester Street including the much visited Susannah's Place Museum and Shop.

It is important to note The Rocks is Australia's pre-eminent heritage-listed precinct where conserving the historical integrity of the existing streetscape is crucial. The 9/10 storey buildings proposed on both Harrington Street and Gloucester streets are not in keeping with the surrounding streetscape's height and scale and look totally out of character.

These building's height should be reduced to a 6 storey MAXIMUM so they do not dominate the streetscape and surrounding heritage terraces.

The development's height must be reduced so it falls within the approved height limits of the area. These height limits have been set to protect the character and existing streetscape of The Rocks.

The height limits have been set as maximum building height which may be achieved by any proposed development, not as a starting point.

The proposal to demolish a 1980s building that was carefully designed to fit into the streetscape , in the vicinity of two important state heritage listed items - The Jobbins Terrace and Susannah Place, and the proposed replacement of the building with a larger building is contrary to the overalls aims for The Rocks Conservation Area. New buildings within the historic area to the north of the Cahill Expressway have set building envelopes designed to complement the nineteenth century townscape. This proposal seeks a larger envelope but does not demonstrate that it contributes to the long term conservation of the historic area. Adapting the current building for a new use would be a more sustainable solution.

Confirmed

THIS AREA OF THE ROCKS HAS A " HEIGHT RESTRICTION " .PRESUMABLY TO PROTECT THE INTEGRITY OF THIS HISTORICAL AREA.

PLEASE ENSURE THAT THIS HEIGHT RESTRICTION IS PRESERVED, AND THAT THIS DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL TAKES THIS INTO CONSIDERATION.

I OBJECT TO THIS PROPOSAL IN ITS EXISTING FORM BECAUSE OF THE HEIGHT REQUEST.

I object to this Development Application SSD 7037 for a number of reasons.
The most important being the fact the application seeks a variation to the Sydney Cove Redevelopment Authority Scheme (SCRA) to amend the specific building envelope for the site to permit an increase in the maximum heights of buildings permitted on the site. Under no circumstances should this be allowed. We need to preserve the height limits set by the SCRA if we submit to pressure of development we will find that more and more applications seeking variation of height restrictions will be lodged. These heights limits have been established to maintain amenity, sunlight, prevent overdevelopment and excessive pressure on existing infrastructure and manage vehicle movements around the narrow streets of The Rocks. There is no genuine reason to support this application which appears simply to maximise overdevelopment on the site.
If this application is approved, there are many owners residing in The Rocks that will be effected. They will lose views, sunlight, the right of their personal amenity and their right to retain their views and sunlight which they believed would never be taken away from them when they purchased their properties. This development application seeks to take these rights away from all residents/owners of The Rocks.
We have seen the extreme impact of the recent overdevelopment of Barangaroo on all owners of properties along York St, Kent St, Sussex St and Lime St. We should learn from our past mistakes when assessing development applications and use this gross over development as a warning and reject this application.
I live in The Rocks and want to retain the wonderful homely feel of the area, we have already seen to many residential apartment buildings approved around the Sydney foreshore and we must take a stand to retain the amenity and environment that makes The Rocks such a wonderful place to live and a draw card for tourists and visitors to the area.
The planned development is excessive and will reduce sunlight, increase the shadow envelope, traffic movement and increase the use of sewer, water, and electricity supplies all of which are already overtaxed.
I trust you consider this objection to this development application which seeks to grossly overdevelop the site. The purpose of my objection is to retain the wonderful character, heritage and visual amenity which are the real heart of The Rocks for currents residents and for future generations. Sydney currently enjoys growing tourism to The Rocks area and an increase in vehicle traffic will impact on the amenity and safety and quality of the beautiful environment. Once we give in to these development applications we will not be able to turn the clock back, it will be too late. The time to act is now, and the only outcome that is the correct outcome is rejection of this development application.
Yours faithfully,
Joyce Edmonds

HHT urges that approval is not given to vary the the existing height envelope contained in the SCRA Scheme. The existing height envelope should continue to be applied to this site as it will ensure the preservation of the important scale-relationship that exists with the two and three storey 19th century terrace house forms in Gloucester Street and Harrington Street.

The relatively minor height exceedance of Building 2 should be permitted as the range of design modifications made to Building 2 make it an acceptable neighbour to the Bakers Terraces that will enhance and activate the street level and courtyards. HHT supports the adaptive reuse of the Bakers Terraces for residential and retail use as their overall form and street frontage will be preserved. HHT notes the interiors of the terraces have been largely altered.

Despite the extensive modifications that have been made to the design of Building 1 - particularly the articulation of the street facades, and the detailed design of materials and forms - HHT remains opposed to the height and mass of Building 1 which we believe will be totally out of character with the adjacent terrace forms. Building 1 in fact appears to have a more comfortable scale relationship with other large commercial buildings immediately east of Harrington Street such as the DFS Galleria and the former NSW State Archives than with the terrace house forms. The introduction of the lowered parapet lines and referencing of terrace house forms in the articulation of the Gloucester Street elevation is welcomed.

HHT acknowledges the quality of the design, materiality and physical expression of the built forms proposed in the fjmt scheme, but does not accept that Building 1 is the best design response that can be achieved at this site given the consideration of its context and neighbours.

Despite the reshaping of the roof form and the introduction of setbacks, the total height of the building is only marginally reduced, and the building remains massively over-scaled in relation to most of the neighbouring sites. As HHT commented in our original submission, Gloucester Street presents a rare sight anywhere in central Sydney of contiguous terrace houses built over a long period from the 1840s until the early 1900s but presenting an unusual degree of consistency and harmony of form and scale. The introduction of a building as large as Building 1 would permanently destroy that unique visual character and is presumably why the SCRA Scheme defined the height envelope at RL 41.

The proposed exceedance is not minimal, but actually 8.3 metres to the high point of the curved roof form. HHT does not agree with the evaluation made by URBIS in the Heritage Impact Statement that taking into account the range of design modifications that have been made the project is now able to be supported on heritage grounds. Of course individual buildings in the precinct have local heritage significance but the streetscape and urban form of Gloucester Street has cumulative significance as a rare, relatively intact streetscape that will be significantly diminished by the presence of a very large new building.

If further reductions in height were considered, such as the elimination of the massive two and a half storey roof form, resulting in only a minor exceedance of the SCRA Scheme height envelope, HHT would reconsider its objection to the proposed development, as in other respects the design proposal is of a high standard and a more successful response to the site than the poorly resolved Harrington Court building.

In regard to above proposal re-development, we object the modern apartment building is being built in the heritage precinct based on the key points as below,
* Ruin Australian history in a protected heritage precinct
In Australia, we only have less than 1% of history which are mainly located in the Rocks. The Rocks is Australia's birth place and displays how they settled in Australia, how they built local sandstone houses by hands, from which the area derives its name. Without the Rocks, Australia has no history.
As Australian citizens, we should maintain our history and make this area a preserved precinct. Why do all the youth/students always come to the Rocks? Why do all of our tourists walk through here? Why do all the bride/groom taking choose this area to take the wedding shots? Think about it. Without these historical building, what can we tell the next generation? What can we tell the tourists? What else we can teach our kids about diligent? Everything in the Rocks is made by a lot of hands, blood, sweat and tears. How can we make the next generation remember all of these? With high rise apartments, it's going to ruin our history in Australia the memorial site will be destroyed.

* Building Height without considering neighborhood residential zone as a whole
Building a six storey building on Gloucester Street and 9 storey n Harrington Street are exceeding building limit of Sydney Cove Redevelopment Authority (SCRA) Scheme. The maximum level should be 2 or 3 storey from the Gloucester Street level.

The proposed six storey has a maximum height in Longs Lane, Gloucester Street, Carahers Lane etc In Longs Lane, the maximum height is 2 storey. Building modern apartments is more commercial purpose but it doesn't consider the Rocks community as a whole. More importantly, developer can't see the impact of the neighborhood interest, however, what they can see is all about money and profit.

* Maintain the same Rocks terrace brings significance to the next generation

The terraces in the Rocks has significant history background and it's a good way to educate our generations how they share bathrooms in the past, lights in pull cord, high window, cypress pine floor, high ceiling and a lot of wooden stairs in the house. Young generation will have no idea about it without seeing the Rocks terrace. Modern apartments won't be able to tell this story and it's going to quite ordinary to most of young generation.

* Don't try reconcile high rise to historical site
Reconciling high rise to historical site is not going to work in the heritage precinct. Each laneway, street, stairs have its own history as well as each terrace also has its own name, own history about who was living there, what did they do. Building a high rise in the middle of the Rocks, it is not going to bizarre in the area. There are a lot of places in Sydney fit high rise but definitely not in the Rocks.
For all of these, it is highly recommended that all Sydney sider should be able to notify the proposal instead of just the neighborhood. Let the public to judge what is right or wrong.

Kind regards

Aileen Liang
13 Carahers Lane
The Rocks NSW 2000

Please see attached.

We refer to the above proposal re-development of the above mentioned property. We run and own Sydney Harbour Bed and Breakfast at 140-142 Cumberland Street, at the Rocks.

We note the 7 level structure to be built on Gloucester Street will potentially block the views to the Opera House, that the saleability of certain of our rooms rely upon. If the views are blocked, we will not be able to achieve anywhere near the same revenue for the rooms in question and this business was sold to us on the basis of revenues achieved with Opera House views based on a rental at the time.

Further to the above all our driveway/parking access occurs from Gloucester Street which may also adversely affect our passage in and out of our residence and business.

We, therefore, object to the proposal if the views end up being blocked and therefore decrease our revenue. If this occurred we would think it fair and just that the rental be revised via review.

Furthermore, there are a multitude of ugly apartments being erected all throughout Sydney, yet why choose right in the middle of a heritage area, which might we add, are scarce as it is in Australia. People come into the Rocks from all over the world to view our history, not some out of place, disjointed, cheap apartments, that could more easily fit into the likes of somewhere in Western Sydney, definitely not the ROCKS!

Attached are the photos to point out the seven-storey (68-72 Gloucester Street) and nine-storey (85 Harrington Street) will definitely block the Opera House View rooms.

It is identified that the significance of Opera House View rooms in the heritage listed building. Tourists come to the Rocks, are mainly looking for Australian heritage charm in the area but not really a high rise apartments. Otherwise, Australia don't really have our history to tell. The hidden history in the Rocks is what traveller want to visit, want to stay here, want to discover. Most importantly, they do enjoy the old charming area.

Kind regards,

Linda and James
Sydney Harbour Bed and Breakfast